Antidote to Market-Induced Motion Sickness
For those of us who own equities, the last five weeks have been devastating. Market losses have put us into red territory for 2011 and even wiped out much of our profits in 2010. [...]
United States Seeing Large and Growing Wealth Gap
On July 26, the Pew Research Center released a study, "Wealth Gaps Rise to Record Highs Between Whites, Blacks and Hispanics." Pew reported that the wealth of different racial groups in the United States [...]
Lack of a Cohesive Government – and a Strategy – Hurting U.S.
"The U.S. seriously lags behind the rest of the world in addressing its infrastructure issues and lacks any type of comprehensive national policy or political will to develop a long-term approach." - Howard Roth, [...]
Why Downgrade of U.S. Credit Could Mean This Game is Over
And somewhere men are laughing, and little children shout; But there is no joy in Mudville - mighty Casey has struck out. - “Casey at the Bat,” by Ernest L. Thayer Washington, like Mudville, [...]
If You Thought Financial Firms Were Too Big to Fail Before…
Near the end of the HBO movie "Too Big to Fail," Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is shown stating his rationale for the government's bailout of Wall Street firms despite their greed and their [...]
U.S. Relationship with China Can’t Stay Separate and Unequal
Henry Kissinger, in his recent book, "On China," wrote that Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai said in 1971 of the U.S.-China relationship: "This will shake the world." Kissinger responded to Zhou's statement by asking "whether [...]
Six-Day War – June 5-June 10, 1967
June 5- June 10, 1967 “We shall not enter Palestine with its soil covered in sand. We shall enter it with its soil saturated in blood.” Egypt’s President Gamal Nasser Introduction: The perceived change in [...]
Will Bernanke Launch a QE3 and Will That Be a Good Thing?
"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There's no point in being a damn fool about it." -W.C. Fields Fields could have meant this advice for Federal Reserve Chairman Ben [...]
We Must Ensure Social Security Isn’t Forgotten Like “Life of Riley”
"There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long-range risks of comfortable inaction." - John F. Kennedy Those of us with more than a few gray hairs can [...]
AT&T’s Plan to Buy T-Mobile is Bad for U.S. Consumers
"We think fundamentally that this transaction is so anti-competitive that there's no way to fix it that doesn't result in harm to consumers and the economy." - Charles McKee, Vice President of Government Affairs, [...]
Oil Scenario Now Playing Out Sounds Eerily Familiar to Some
For those who can remember the oil shocks of the 1970s, it all seems eerily familiar. During that decade, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries employed stratagems to increase prices from about $3 [...]
Ballooning U.S. Budget Deficit a Serious Obstacle to Recovery
"The United States faces daunting economic and budgetary challenges." - Congressional Budget Director Douglas Elmendorf In mythology, Troy was destroyed because its inhabitants failed to heed the warnings of Cassandra against bringing a wooden [...]
Food Shortages and High Prices Still Threaten World’s Stability
"We are at a very high level. These levels in the previous episode led to problems and riots across the world." - Abdolreza Abbassian, senior food analyst, U.N. Food Organization In December 2010, the [...]
Squalid Abortion Clinic Escaped State Oversight “People Die” Christopher Dutton, Chief Counsel Pennsylvania Health Official
Today’s New York Times in an article “Squalid Abortion Clinic Escaped State Oversight” described the despicable conditions poor colored women confronted in getting an abortion in Philadelphia over a 25-year period. A few days ago, [...]
Charles Darwin, the Discover of Natural Selection (1809-1882)
Charles Darwin, best known as the discoverer of natural selection, was born in 1809 to a very distinguished English family. Mr. Darwin by all accounts was an extraordinary English gentleman who avidly followed his [...]
The Case for a Jewish State: Revised
Unfortunately, I have only seen scattering comments that refer to some concern on Rebecca Werlin’s part regarding the religious affiliation of Israel. Further, I understand that Rebecca feels that a theological state might not [...]
Nuremberg Trial: Established the Precedent of an International Tribunal to Review Crimes against Humanity
The Nuremberg Trials from 1945-1949 provide an understanding of the nature and causes of evil. Those who come to the trials expecting to find sadistic monsters are generally disappointed. What is shocking about Nuremberg is [...]
The New Normal Means Slow Growth and Low Returns
In 2008, Mohamed El-Erian, CEO and co-chief investment officer of Pacific Investment Management Co., coined the term "the new normal." El-Erian used the term to describe the post-financial crisis facing investors, predicting a world [...]
Gold’s Value Continues to Rise but is it a Good Investment?
"Gold looks better every day with growing sovereign risks." - Hussein Allidina, head of commodities research at Morgan Stanley "Paper eventually returns to its intrinsic value -- zero" - Voltaire Gold recently closed near [...]
Rosella Werlin
Remembering my mother, Rosella Werlin Let me say at the outset, I owe so much to my mother, that I cannot separate my life from hers. She was not only an indispensible partner [...]
Sarah Werlin
Grandmother Werlin: Life in Rural Texas before Electricity Sarah Werlin. Photo courtesy of Ernest Werlin I have thought very little about Grandmother Werlin over the years. She died when I was [...]
Jacob Werlin
Jacob Werlin. Photo courtesy of Ernest Werlin My grandfather, Jacob Werlin, represented a significant group of self-taught Jewish intellectuals bred in the poverty and virulent anti-Semitism of Eastern Europe. These men spent [...]
Are Americans Serious About Reining in the Budget Deficit?
In the space of a week -- Nov. 10-17 -- two blue-ribbon panels proposed tough-minded proposals for reining in our federal budget deficits. President Barack Obama appointed the bipartisan White House Fiscal Commission. The [...]
ETF’s – A Powerful Invention That Can be a Boon to Investors
"There is no better way for individuals to build diversified investment portfolios. Every asset class is available at rock-bottom costs." - Charles Schwab, founder and chairman of Charles Schwab Corp. After all these years, [...]
QE II-Is Fed About to Crown a New Monetary Policy?
"In a world in which the policy interest rate is close to zero, the (Federal Reserve) must consider the costs and risks associated with the use of non-conventional tools when it assesses whether additional [...]
Will New Law Finally Puncture Wall Street’s Bubble Habit?
I'm forever blowing bubbles, Pretty bubbles in the air. They fly so high, Nearly reach the sky, Then like my dreams, They fade and die -1918 lyrics by James Kendis, James Brockman and Nat [...]
Companies Should Start Paying Dividends and Not Sit on Cash
"We've pressured Cisco, saying, 'We would like a share. You don't need all that money.'" - Susan Byrne, chief investment officer of Westwood Holdings Cisco Systems recently joined tech titans Microsoft and Oracle in [...]
Can U.S. Administration Learn From Germany’s Success?
"Governments should not become addicted to borrowing as a quick fix to stimulate demand. ... Deficit spending cannot become a permanent state of affairs." - Wolfgang Schaeuble, German finance minister, Spiegel Online, June 25, [...]
Suggestions on How to Give
Suggestions on How to Give the U.S. economy a tune-up "It's the economy, stupid." - James Carville, lead strategist for Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign This phrase was used effectively during Bill Clinton's successful campaign [...]
Why Fed Should Change Aim to a New Possibility: Deflation
Recent data show that the U.S. economy has lost momentum. As a consequence, the debate within the Federal Reserve is intensifying over the best way to prevent a double dip into a recession, coupled [...]
Mistress of the Vatican: The True Story of Olimpia Maidalchini
Book Review: Mistress of the Vatican: The True Story of Olimpia Maidalchini: The Secret Female Pope (17th-century Scarlett O’Hara) By Eleanor Herman Overview The author, Eleanor Herman, provided a spectacular account of Olimpia’s incredible life [...]
A Country Named Intrepid
The title I chose, A Country Named Intrepid, reflects my feelings that we perverted of the wholesome counter intelligence efforts of a by-gone era. Specifically, a wonderful book called, A Man Named Intrepid, described the [...]
China’s Growing Thirst for Oil Increases Chances for Strife
"China's main mission is to protect and fuel its growing economy, and to do that China is engaged in a concerted campaign to grab conventional energy resources around the world." -Karen Harbert, head of [...]
The Technocracy (Bureaucracy) Boom
In an editorial for the New York Times, The Technocracy Boom, David Brooks highlighted a fundamental problem—the extensive growth of the federal bureaucracy that has occurred in the twenty-first century (2001-2010) under both Republican and [...]
SEC Just One Example of Why Revolving Door Should be Shut
"We need to ensure that SEC officials are more focused on regulation and enforcement than on getting their next job in the industry they are supposed to oversee." --Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa The term [...]